From thoughtful pieces on the historian’s role to striking insights into America’s past and present to trenchant observations on the international scene, Barbara W. Tuchman looks at history in a unique way and draws lessons from what she sees. Spanning more than four decades of writing in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Harper’s, The Nation, and The Saturday Evening Post, Tuchman weighs in on a range of eclectic topics, from Israel and Mao Tse-tung to a Freudian reading of Woodrow Wilson. This is a splendid body of work, the story of a lifetime spent “practicing history.”
Praise for Practicing History
“Persuades and enthralls . . . I can think of no better primer for the nonexpert who wishes to learn history.”—Chicago Sun-Times
“Provocative, consistent, and beautifully readable, an event not to be missed by history buffs.”—Baltimore Sun
“A delight to read.”—The New York Times Book Review
Chapter 1 - In Search of History
Chapter 2 - When Does History Happen?
Chapter 3 - History by the Ounce
Chapter 4 - The Historian as Artist
Chapter 5 - The Historians Opportunity
Chapter 6 - Problems in Writing the Biography of General Stilwell
Chapter 7 - The Houses of Research
Chapter 8 - Biography as a Prism of History
Chapter 9 - Japan: A Clinical Note
Chapter 11 - What Madrid Reads
Chapter 12 - “Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead”
Chapter 13 - The Final Solution
Chapter 14 - Israel: Land of Unlimited Impossibilities
Chapter 15 - Woodrow Wilson on Freud’s Couch
Chapter 16 - How We Entered World War I
Chapter 17 - Israel’s Swift Sword
Chapter 18 - If Mao Had Come to Washington
Chapter 19 - The Assimilationist Dilemma: Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story
Chapter 20 - Kissinger: Self-Portrait
Chapter 21 - Mankind’s Better Moments
Chapter 22 - Is History a Guide to the Future?
Chapter 23 - Vietnam - WHEN, WHY, AND HOW TO GET OUT
COALITION IN VIETNAM—NOT WORTH ONE MORE LIFE
THE CITIZEN VERSUS THE MILITARY
Chapter 24 - Historical Clues to Present Discontents
Chapter 26 - Why Policy-Makers Do Not Listen
Chapter 27 - Watergate and the Presidency - SHOULD WE ABOLISH THE PRESIDENCY?
A LETTER TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Chapter 28 - On Our Birthday—America as Idea